Event Details

Hey Chicago, the Mixer parade is coming your way! We'll be kicking off the event with inspiring talks from Cars.com followed by the traditional demo style startup showcase; served over cocktails, of course.

Cars.com and Tech Cocktail, cordially invite you to an innovative speaker series event to kick off the Tech Cocktail Mixer. Whether you are a technology enthusiast, inventor, creator, entrepreneur, investor, developer, or designer, we are all linked by a passion for innovation and technology.

Justyn Howard is the founder and CEO of Sprout Social, a Social Media Management (SMM) platform built for business. Founded in 2010, Sprout Social provides innovative tools that help businesses more effectively manage their social media and social care efforts. Prior to founding Sprout Social, Justyn was a sales leader in the enterprise software space for 10 years and has written two books on the subject of leveraging technology to impact sales. A leader in Chicago’s tech space, in 2011 he was honored as one of Crain’s inaugural “Tech 25.” Follow him @justyn.

Jen Leemis joined Cars.com’s consumer marketing team just over a year ago and focuses on the company’s brand-building initiatives. In her short time with Cars.com, Leemis has made quite the impact by leading a cross-functional team in developing and executing a brand-new advertising campaign, “ALL DRIVE. No drama.”, that made its debut in Super Bowl XLVII.

Before joining Cars.com, Leemis was with the Quaker Division of PepsiCo where she managed various cereal brands such as Cap’ n Crunch and Oatmeal Squares. While at Quaker, Leemis managed cross-functionally and multiple agencies through the integrated marketing communications process to bring to life the plans for achieving business goals. Her marketing experience spans across mediums such as TV, print, digital, radio, social and PR. She has also spent time in brand and product management at Kellogg Company and BP.

Ross left a successful 13-year career as a trial lawyer to pursue his dream of founding a technology company (in part so that he could wear shorts and sandals to work every day) by co-founding crowdSPRING - the world's #1 marketplace for crowdsourced graphic design, industrial design and writing services. crowdSPRING is helping to re-shape advertising and marketing around the world by giving clients of all size access to 131,000 talented designers and writers. crowdSPRING (winner of numerous national and international awards) has helped tens of thousands of buyers from 100+ countries (including some of the world's best agencies and Brands) meet their creative needs. Ross has been honored for the past two years as one of Techweek100's top technology leaders and business visionaries. Ross mentors entrepreneurs through Techstars Chicago and Founder Institute, and is a member of the Techweek Executive Advisory Board. Follow him on Twitter @rosskimbarovsky.

Tech Cocktail Mixer & Startup Showcase - a delicious blend between a network event, startup showcase, and a party. We bring together Chicago's hottest startups, most passionate technophiles, job seekers, investors, entrepreneurs, and those simply looking for a fun atmospher to get to know your neighbors. The result is a one-of-a-kind experience that has earned Tech Cocktail Mixers the national reputation of a must-attend event.

Connecting the technology community – At Tech Cocktail events you are bound to connect with potential new employees, developers, designers and more. Tech Cocktail could be the place where you meet your next employee, co-founder or even get a date. If you are a company looking to hire, you can also leverage the Tech Cocktail Job Board to get the message out early – or you could sponsor the event and use it as your own personal job fair. Click here to contact usfor sponsorship information.

Interested in sponsoring Tech Cocktail Chicago? Tech Cocktail offers a range of sponsorship options for every budget. Whether you're looking to just support the event so local startups can get more coverage, or leverage the event to get exposure around your product or company (or find people to hire!), we have affordable opportunities for you. Learn how your company can be a part of the event here.

Tech Cocktail (http://tech.co) is a media company that covers the latest tech innovations across the globe. Tech Cocktail has been hosting mixer events and writing about technology start-ups and entrepreneurs across the country with the focus of helping to amplify the local technology signal since 2006. We have hosted large events in Chicago, D.C., NY, San Francisco, Boston, Boulder, San Diego, Detroit, Boise, Austin, Barcelona and more. Read more about Tech Cocktail.

When & Where

1871
222 West Merchandise Mart Plaza
#1212 Chicago,
IL 60654

Wednesday, April 3, 2013 from 6:00 PM to 9:30 PM (CDT)

Organizer

Tech Cocktail

Tech Cocktail is a media company focused on better connecting, educating and amplifying the start-up technology community and showcasing the latest tech innovations.

Tech Cocktail is aimed at helping build and strengthen local tech start-up communities both online and off. During past mixer events we have had companies find employees, co-founders, funding and some start-ups have even been acquired. We love it when that happens.